Water meters, especially for determining residential water use or for determining commercial water use, generally have an inlet and an outlet arranged horizontally on left and right sides of the water meter. Plumbing connections are needed to connect the inlet of the water meter to the water main or other source of potable water. Plumbing connections are also needed to connect the outlet of the water meter to the main supply piping for the residence or other structure to be served by the water meter. Typically, these plumbing connections are made on site using various suitable, conventional fittings such as pipe nipples and valves. Although various attempts have been made in the prior art to provide an assembly for facilitating the connection of a water meter to inlet and outlet piping, the need remains for a valve arrangement that facilitates the prompt and efficient connection of a water meter, especially in commercial, domestic or residential settings.
In the prior art, for example, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,800 of Meli to provide a connector body in which a pipe loop is provided to receive a water meter between coaxial ends of the pipe loop. A connector body is provided to supply one end of the pipe loop with water and to direct another end of the pipe loop to the structure to be served by the water meter. In the Meli patent, the connector body is configured so that the connector body may be provided within a straight length of pipe with the ends of the pipe loop arranged at right angles to one another.
Various prior art valve arrangements are also known for connecting gas meters to piping. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,679 of Hall discloses a meter loop frame assembly in which inlet and outlet piping connections are joined together by a brace. The inlet and outlet piping is configured for connection to the top of a gas meter. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,632,328 of McChesney discloses a gas meter connection assembly in which inlet and outlet piping is connected by a bar. The inlet and outlet piping is arranged to connect to the sides of the gas meter. Other meter piping arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,782 of Hendey and in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0295907 of Noll et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,128,097 of Bockelman discloses a shower bath body and U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,399 of Miller discloses a modular manifold having a plurality of fittings.
Water meter installation arrangements are also commercially available from The Ford Meter Box Company, Inc. of Indiana and especially from their website (http://www.fordmeterbox.com/pages/downloads/catalog.htm) at Section B, Section E and Section F. Other water meter installation arrangements are known from the Mueller Company Full Water online catalog in sections 8.1, 8.2, and 8A.1-8A.47 available on the Mueller Company website (www.muellercompany.com/water/products). Other water meter installation arrangements are known from the AY McDonald company website (http://www.aymcdonald.com/water.cfm) in sections identified for Insetters, Iron Meter Yokes, Resetters, and Meter Setters.
Accordingly, the need remains for a valve arrangement for use with a water meter or other metering device to connect the meter to inlet and outlet piping and especially using different joint or coupling configurations in an economical and efficient manner which overcomes the difficulties in the prior art.